The great fall in the prison population made it possible to close temporarily, at various dates, a considerable number of the penal institutions, representing about one-quarter of the total cellular accommodation of the country. These included the large convict prison at Dartmoor, which was utilized as a "Work Centre" for the prisoners known as "Conscientious Objectors," and the Borstal Institution at Feltham. So far as crime generally in the country is concerned, a comparison with the Tables printed on pages 216-8 shows a further great falling-off, as follows:-- -------------------------------------+------------------------------------ |Number tried or proceeded against. +-------+-------+-------------------- | 1917 | 1913 |Decrease per cent. -------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------------------- (a) Serious crime tried on indictment| 5,586| 12,511| 55 | | | (b) Less serious, though indictable | | | crime, tried summarily | 57,419| 50,758| 13 (increase) (c) Non-indictable offences of a | | | criminal nature | 52,152| 71,124| 27 (d) Non-indictable offences of a | | | non-criminal nature |393,606|609,116| 35 -------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------------------- With regard to category (a), serious offences against the person have fallen since 1913 by 39 per cent; offences against property with violence (burglary, housebreaking, &c.) by 58 per cent; and offences against property without violence (larceny, receiving, &c.) by 60 per cent. As regards the increase shown under category (b) above, a large proportion of the charges included are for petty larceny by children and "young persons." Deducting these from the total, the offences committed by persons over 16 total to 33,012 and 36,433 for the years 1917 and 1913 respectively, or 9 per cent. decrease. In category (d) are included 65,386 offences created by war-time legislation, _viz_: offences against regulations made under the Defence of the Realm Acts, about 50,500; Aliens Restriction Act, 1914, 13,600; and National Registration Act, 1,192. If these be excluded, the decrease shown in the Table above would be about 46 per cent. * * * * * Although over two years have elapsed since the cessation of hostilities, during which time several million men have returned to civil life, and although during that time there has been much industrial unrest, and though certain modifications have been allowed on the severe restrictions placed upon the sale of intoxicating liquor, referred to above, the ordinary prison population is still 36 per cent. below that at the time of the outbreak of war, _viz_:--